This application claims benefits of Provisional Appln. 60/048,446 filed Jun. 3, 1997.
This invention relates generally to drinking vessels. More specifically, the present invention relates to an illuminated drinking vessel in which the liquid content of the vessel is illuminated under defined conditions.
Drinking vessels such as cups, mugs and wine glasses are in quite common usage. Many times such drinking vessels are utilized in dimly-lit environments. In such conditions, it would be helpful to utilize the drinking vessel itself to provide some form of illumination, not only from a utilitarian point of view but also from an entertaining and/or aesthetic point of view. The combination of one or more lights with a drinking vessel can be attractive to the user and can provide a form of amusement.
There have been a number of lighted drinking vessels devised, which all incorporate some type of light associated with a drinking cup, a power source and a switch. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 919,691, a subbase separable from the drinking vessel is provided for housing a battery. When the drinking vessel is placed on the subbase, an incandescent electric lamp is caused to be illuminated. In another illuminated drinking vessel the illumination is accomplished automatically by the raising of the receptacle through a switch in the base, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,177,337. In a like manner, the illuminated drinking vessel of U.S. Pat. No. 2,224,319 illustrates a switch mechanism in the base of the drinking vessel which causes a lamp to be illuminated whenever the drinking vessel is held in one's hand, but extinguishes the light when the drinking vessel is placed on a tray or table. Other variations are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,532,818; 2,663,866; 3,218,447; 3,374,344; 3,735,113; 3,878,386; 4,922,355; 5,070,435; 5,119,279; and 5,211,699.
A review of the foregoing prior art devices shows that there has not been yet devised an illuminated drinking vessel wherein the lamp is turned off unless either one of two conditions is satisfied, namely (1) filling the cup with a fluid, or manually actuating a switch upon lifting of the drinking vessel. It is believed that such a drinking vessel is needed which permits the lamp to be actuated both directly and indirectly by the user. Directly in the sense that the lamp would be illuminated when the user lifts the drinking vessel, and indirectly in the sense that the lamp would be illuminated when the fluid-retaining cup is filled. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.